Trail of Tears involved gunpoint eviction and seizure of Cherokee property

Evidence

Scott and his men and the local Georgia militia followed through on this ultimatum, ordering women, men, children, and the elderly from their homes and fields at gunpoint and bayonet tip and setting in motion the Trail of Tears. Forced to abandon most of their possessions, the Cherokees witnessed white Georgians taking ownership of their cabins and all within them. Daniel Butrick, a missionary to the Cherokees, described what he witnessed: “Women absent from their families on visits, or for other purposes, were seized, and men far from their wives and children were not allowed to return, and also children being forced from home, were dragged off among strangers. Cattle, horses, hogs, household furniture, clothing and money not with them were taken and left.” In the words of one Georgia militiaman who was also present: “I fought through the civil war and have seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by thousands, but the Cherokee removal was the cruelest work I ever knew.” — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 499

Categorization

• CANDY: “I fought through the civil war and have seen men shot to pieces… but the Cherokee removal was the cruelest work I ever knew” is a striking first-person quote that lands even out of context.